Forced Chill Time

JP with mdman, Jaxx, Trustno1 and Cindy

After Agent Powers left with Ekaterina they made their way to the kitchen and pulled out some fruits to dice up and some to squeeze for some smoothies. Ekaterina helped by getting the serving trays and glasses with straws as Agent Powers was chopping like a pro and then squeezing the other juices into the blender full of ice. Ekaterina was impressed by the focus of Agent Powers as he worked quickly. He thanked her as she helped him then they carried the drinks, box of toothpicks and fruit trays to the pool area. After they arrived they set up the drinks and food on a pool side table for everyone. Then Agent Powers brought a smoothie and fruit tray to the small table by Alyssa since he didn't want her getting up for a while. He then gave her a smolder and said, "I know you don't like forced chill time but you need it.”

"Yeah, yeah I know I'm not great at the whole downtime thing or, as you put it 'forced chill time' I think I should start using that expression." Alyssa thanked both Max and Ekaterina for getting the food. She sipped her smoothly, which even Alyssa had to admit was tasty despite being healthy.

Then as Alyssa was enjoying her smoothie, Ekaterina talked Agent Powers to sit on the edge of the pool with her and soak their feet as they enjoyed their snack. Since it sounded like a relaxing thing to do, Agent Powers did as requested and sipped his smoothie next to Ekaterina.

A chill went up Dahlia’s back at the thought of vampires, the princes of darkness had a connection to Judaism. They celebrated the light. It was the light that led her ancient ancestors to their home in Israel.

She looked at Max and Kat. That brought joy back to her, just watching them together.

She picked up some mixed fruit on one of the toothpicks and nibbled at it.

"Are you feeling better after your smoothie Alyssa?" asked Sartre.

"A little, yes." Alyssa responded, as she bit into a piece of fruit. She gently squeezed his hand.

“Gehenna is actually a Greek term,” Dahlia explained. “The Hebrew is gey’hinnom. Some call it the Valley of Hinnom. It is actually translated as the Valley of Wailing because of the wailing mothers at the loss of their children being sacrificed. Today, this area is now a city park and a popular venue for rock concerts.”

"You'll have to forgive my ignorance on the religious side of things, I really don't have much of a background in that." Alyssa never wanted her questions to come across as stupid. "Is that where the Wailing Wall is?" She knew it was somewhere in Jerusalem, but not exactly sure where.

“It is fine,” Dahlia easily said. “I do not expect everyone to know my people’s history or beliefs. The Wailing Wall is north of Gehenna. It is part of the Temple Mount, which is above the Kidron Valley running east of Jerusalem. On the other side of the Kidron Valley is the Mount of Olives. It is actually called the Western Wall, which is all that is left of the holy temple. It is the retaining wall of the Temple Mount, which now houses a site important to Islam. One day, we will reclaim the Temple Mount and rebuild the temple.” She said this last part in a confident tone as she sipped a smoothie.

Agent Powers stayed away from the history/religious talk since he knew he would sound dumb if he did. He barely passed his home school classes as it was and the only stuff he remembered was due to being at those places on his missions. So as he soaked his feet in the water next to Ekaterina while sipping his smoothie he noticed she wrapped her foot around his and was gently moving back and forth. When he looked at her she elegantly smiled at him before elegantly sipped her smoothie. He noticed her sexy bikini as he admired her figure. She was very pretty and he was still trying to figure out why she liked being around him, sadly he lacked the courage to ask her. He figured she would tell him when she was ready. So he just quietly let her have her fun as he sipped his smoothie. Ekaterina on the other hand was enjoying her time with Agent Powers by the pool since this was a rare moment for the princess.

The information Dahlia had, was likely much more than Alyssa was privy to in the moment, the hacker was certain of it. Hopefully, eventually Alyssa could learn more. Right now, she ate some more of her fruit and continued to hold hands with Peter, as tried to think of another question to ask Dahlia but to be honest she was still a little worn out from the experience and her mind just wasn't coming up with anything.

Dahlia’s eyes misted. She loved her nation and her people. It was why she would go to extremes to protect them.

She turned to Alyssa, smiled, and whispered, “So, you and Agent Sartre? I’m happy for you.”

Alyssa smiled softly, and whispered back. "Yes, and thank you. " She had caught on that Max and Ekaterina liked each other and suspected that Choi and Dahlia might like each other but she wasn't experienced enough to know her instinct were correct. Plus it felt a little intrusive because she didn't know Dahlia that well. "I was thinking that maybe we are missing an possible area for research. Maybe, we should watch some movies based on vampires and werewolves, certainly not everything will be accurate but it could give us a list to cross check." And this way she could work without doing too much, but Alyssa didn't say that outloud.

“Yes, sure,” Dahlia responded. “Maybe it would be good to check out. Maybe the original Dracula story, true to the book. It was written a while ago, so it may not have as much embellishments from Hollywood.”